Posted on 08/01/2021 4:49:56 AM PDT by Libloather
A Missouri man who in 2001 was convicted of a felony after he killed a chimpanzee that escaped from a neighboring compound had his conviction expunged after 20 years, St. Louis-based FOX-affiliate KTVI-TV reported Friday.
According to the report, Festus, Mo. resident Jason Coats, 37, will no longer have to deal with the “former felon” moniker that has plagued him since he was only 17 years old and he fatally shot one of three chimpanzees which escaped from the recently-disbanded Missouri Primate Foundation on April 19, 2001. The facility housed more than 20 of the animals at the time. Coats, who was returning from a run to a local Dairy Queen with two other friends, has always maintained that the shooting was “absolutely in self-defense”...
**SNIP**
Coats testified that he ran inside his home and grabbed his 20-gauge shotgun to help his friends. When he came back outside, they told him one of the apes was fighting his dog in the front of the house. When he reached the front of the house, he said that the chimp, named Suzie, turned toward him. Fearing she was about to charge, he fired three times, killing the animal.
However, one of Coats’s neighbors testified that the chimp was sitting peacefully and Coats shot it in the back. The jury found Coats guilty of felony property damage and misdemeanor animal abuse. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison plus a fine. According to court records, the fine appears to have been suspended, but those same court records indicate that Coats was ordered “as an additional special condition of probation” to “hand-write a letter of apology and explanation” to both Suzy’s owners and to “each person who has written to the court expressing their outrage and disgust at defendant’s behavior.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
He should have waited till the primate ripped off his face and ate it. Grown chimps can be extremely dangerous.
Wheesh...I misread the title and thought the guy got 20 years in prison for killing the chimp. Thankfully...my mistake.
Chimps are REALLY bad news if they go rogue ......
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chimp-mauling-under-investigation/
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/chimpanzee-rips-womans-face-hands-22070903
“Grown chimps can be extremely dangerous”
Absolutely. Also most people have no idea how strong. We had a neighbor in the 70s that had a female. She got hold of his car keys once and bent them like paper clips.
Later he moved in with a woman at the beach because she also had a chimp so the two could be companions.
Their enclosure was an inside/outside deal with the outside facing the beach. Even with warning signs all over not to get too close and do not touch the cage sure enough two kids walked up and one put his hand close to the cage. “Bonnie” grabbed his hand and bit one of his fingers clean off.
At the end of the day its a wild animal.
Same here, even after reading the poorly written Save The Chimps article.
Chimps are extremely dangerous wild animals, even if raised as pets in captivity. Ask Charla Nash (if she were still alive.)
No way it should be a felony for shooting a loose animal, especially one as dangerous as a chimp.
I’m glad this finally got cleared up.
What a travesty for him to have to live with that for so long when you look at the injustice prevailing in our society for people who have done worse to humans and gotten away with it.
I am a former zookeeper.
We had one chimpanzee that was extremely dangerous. We had to do something is his area once. We tranquilized him, and had two men with 30-30s aimed at him as we did the requisite work in his lot.
We got along with him, but no one dared get within his reach.
CLM
What was it that allowed him to clear his felony record. I didn’t see it.
Don't pet the bison.
We see people who get right up to them, but you knew the normal reality.
Thank you.
Yes, I remember that story. The teenage chimp tore her face and hands off. There are many accounts of brutal attacks by chimps on humans. I wouldn't go near any chimp not confined to a cage.
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